Saudis Building Iraq Border Wall
By Patrick Schmidt. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recently announced a plan to build a 600-mile “Great Wall” along its border with Iraq. The announcement follows continued violence in Iraq as the Islamic State (IS) still controls vast swaths of the country. The plan had previously been discussed in Saudi Arabia as early as 2006, […]
Video: Shia Militias Gaining Strength in Iraq
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Shia militias in Iraq have been given backing by the government and as a result are growing bigger and stronger by the day. Many of them recently merged under the banner of the […]
GDP Forecasters See 2015 Rebound
By Mark A. DeWeaver. Last month Barcelona-based economics consultancy FocusEconomics launched an interesting new product—a survey of professional forecasters for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The section on the Iraqi economy is particularly useful given the lack of attention this subject normally receives. It includes consensus projections for 25 macro variables going […]
Iraq to Double Exports of Kirkuk Crude
By John Lee. Fouad Hussein, a member of the Kirkuk provincial council’s oil and gas committee, has told Bloomberg that Iraq will double shipments of Kirkuk crude “in the coming few weeks” from about 150,000 bpd currently to 300,000 bpd. To achieve this, he said that it will be necessary to install a new pipeline […]
Petroceltic, Hess Reviewing Options at Shireen
By John Lee. Petroceltic International has given the following update this morning on its operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: "Further to the temporary suspension announced on 11 August, drilling operations resumed at the Shireen exploration well on 2 October 2014. "Since recommencement, the well has encountered challenges with casing and cementing at high […]
Civilised World Must Cooperate Against Extremism
Sweden’s Minister for Defense, Peter Hultqvist, received Minister Falah Mustafa, Head of KRG Foreign Relations, and his accompanying delegation on Wednesday to exchange views on the latest security developments in the Kurdistan Region and the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Mr. Mustafa briefed the defense minister on latest developments on […]
Iraq Contributes $28m to Palestinian Authority
By John Lee. Iraq has reportedly donated $28 million to the Arab League (pictured) as part of its contribution to support the Palestinian Authority. According to Maan News Agency, Iraq's representative to the Arab League, Diya al-Dabbas, said that the payment highlights Iraq's commitment to the Palestinian cause. (Source: Maan News Agency)
PM Barzani Receives UK Security Envoy
Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, yesterday received the British Government's Security Envoy to Kurdistan Region, Lieutenant General Sir Simon Mayall, and his accompanying delegation, which included the British Consul to Kurdistan Region, Angus McKee and a number of British military officers. Lieutenant General Mayall said that the aim of his is to acquire […]
Currency Auction Results, 15th Jan
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 21 banks took part in its currency auction on Thursday. A total of $242,258,000 was sold at a price of 1166 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar. (Source: Central Bank of Iraq)
Dragon Oil Updates on Iraq Operations
By John Lee. As part of its Drilling and Production Update this morning, Dragon Oil made the following statement about its operations in Iraq: In December 2014, the consortium of Dragon Oil (30%) and Kuwait Energy (70% and operator) reported their second oil reservoir discovery at Block 9 in Iraq. The successful discovery was at […]
ARCHS Joins Iraq Britain Business Council
By John Lee. The Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) has announced that ARCHS is to join as a new member. ARCHS was established in Baghdad in 1950 by Mr Ali Charchafchi and has offices in Iraq, Jordan, UAE and UK. The company has grown substantially during the last decades and provides construction services in the […]
KRG Discusses War Crimes with Amnesty Int'l
Minister Falah Mustafa, Head of the KRG foreign relations and his accompanying delegation visited the Swedish Section of the Amnesty International to discuss human rights violations committed by the terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sahm (ISIS, ISIL, IS). Mr. Mustafa stressed, “At times where our voices were not heard, Amnesty International and […]